Dear Family and Friends, May 22, 2011
We have had a great week of zone conferences this week! Now that our conferences are held every three months it seems like there is such a long time between conferences. We had conferences Tuesday through Friday all held here in Asuncion. The schedule is full as we begin at 9 and end at 4. It was a good week as we saw all the missionaries from zones 1-6. We began conferences with a DVD of a devotional given by Elder Holland at the MTC in January. It was a very powerful message asking each of us the question , “Lovest thou me more than these ?” from the scripture in John 21:15. It really set the tone for conference as we each looked inside our hearts to see if we have committed ourselves to our missions and to the Lord’s work the way we need to. Elder Holland said very strongly that we cannot go back to our lives and the way we were before our missions and be true to the covenants we have made. We need to be better and improved because of our experiences here forever!
President then went on to speak of the things we are asked to do as missionaries to be focused on the work. The missionaries were reminded of why we have been given rules from the prophet about internet use, daily schedules, budgets missionaries are asked to live within, interaction with members, grooming and preparation day along with many more things. All of these things have a purpose and that is to help missionaries focus on the work and not to have distractions. The assistants had a session on planning better and then after lunch messages were given by me and some missionaries. The zone leaders had some time with their zones to focus on things they felt their zones needed along with some practices. The missionaries are encouraged to give their messages in English if they are a latin missionary who is learning English. Elders Pastul and Hernriquez both did an excellent job. Elder Bulkley has been here only three weeks and he did a great job with his Spanish also. President finished the conference encouraging improvement in working with the members and teaching how much more effective we can be as missionaries in helping more people come to the Savior by working with members.
Elder Wray joined the office staff as he is being trained by Elder Sellers for his responsibilities as administrador. He will be in charge of keeping the mission supplied with Book of Mormons, pamphlets, any other thing we use as a mission. He is responsible for the distribution of anything that needs to be moved around the mission, mail ,packages ,supplies etc. We have been asking parents to keep the shipping of too many packages to a minimum. Sometimes items need to be sent to the missionaries but anything that arrives in the mission has to be delivered to the missionary at the expense of the mission. The administrator has a big job when 190 plus missionaries are here in the mission. He also administers the English test for the latin missionaries who want to get their certificates. Elder Sellers has done a great job and we are sure Elder Wray is being taught well !
Wednesday afternoon one of our hermanas who finished her mission a few months ago returned for a visit with her parents and sister. It was good to see Hermana Sargent and meet her family. They brought a large amount of white shirts and ties for us to use here in the mission for missionaries who come still needing a few things .Some of our missionaries who leave from the districts often need much help to get their clothing ready to begin their missions. Their gift to the mission will help many missionaries.
Saturday we went to a Bicentennial program in one of the stakes in Asuncion. The young single adults of two stakes presented a wonderful program depicting through song and dance the history of Paraguay. We enjoyed it so much! Today we went to stake conference in Fernando de la Mora which is the stake we live in. It was a nice meeting and we heard some great messages.There also was a young adult choir of about 30 people that did a good job.
We love being with the missionaries. We were especially impressed this week at their real desires to learn and take in the messages given during the conference. They were very focused during our zone conferences. We feel so blessed to be with these wonderful missionaries and we are grateful for the way they have prepared themselves to be here and for the way they are continuing to grow while they are here. They have some great parents who have prepared them well and are continuing to support them while they are here. Our daughter Jenny received a kind note from some parents of some of our missionaries this week wishing her well with her new baby that will be born in July along with a gift for the baby. The goodness of people is a wonderful part of this experience as we see people reaching out to our family as we are here away from them. The love of the Lord is the most important part of missionary work and anything we do really. We see evidences of the Lord’s love for us and for our family and for each of our missionaries daily. What a blessing! It is our goal to improve daily to learn to reciprocate that love to others better. We hope you all have a wonderful week! Love, Mark and Sandy
May 15, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
We are on our way back to Asuncion after a nice weekend of the district conference for Pilar. It´s about a 4 ½ hour drive to Pilar through an area of wetlands that we always enjoy driving through. There are a zillion different birds that are fun to look at. The district presidency was reorganized during the conference. It was a nice weekend and we left with a new presidency ready to lead the district there. They all have wives who are excited and willing to support their husbands. We saw eight of our missionaries there and we also had a meeting with them and their investigators and new converts before the main session of conference. The missionaries from Pilar, Ayolas and San Ignacio were there. We also now have an Area Seventy who lives in Asuncion so he presided . He will be a great addition to help with the training needed here for the priesthood leadership. Elder DiGiovani and his wife are from Argentina but he works for the church here in Asuncion.
Earlier in the week we had a nice day with a visit from General Primary and Young Women´s presidents. Sister Rosemary Wixom and Sister Elaine Dalton were both so fun to be with. We picked them up at the airport along with Elder Bradley Foster of our area presidency and his wife and then went to lunch. We then went to the temple so they could have a tour of the temple. We also met with a group of youth who were there to do baptisms. Afterwards we went to one chapel with Sister Wixom for a meeting with the primary leaders from around Asuncion and Sister Dalton went to another building to meet with the Young Women leaders. Sister Wixom asked me to play piano to help with her message of how important music is in primary.
Our sweet helper, Lidu is a Primary president and I pointed her out to Sister Wixom and told her what a wonderful faithful member she is. As part of her message she had Lidu come up and talk about her experience as a President of a primary. Her cute personality came through and she got a few laughs but taught a great message of the importance of priesthood leadership. Sister Wixom also met with a primary aged girl and her family. It was a family of four girls and mother who were all members, but the father is not yet a member. Sister Wixom asked me and president if we had anything to add to the conversation . I shared that my father was a not a member when I was young and shared how important it was for my mother to be a good example and that after some time he decided to have the missionary lessons and joined the church .We all felt that we were all there to share experiences and to help one another as we face and endure challenges in our lives.
After the meeting Sister Wixom greeted everyone and as one woman passed by me she commented that she liked seeing me holding hands with Mark as a married couple during the meeting. The example of strong marriages is so needed here and people are always watching us!!
Today is the Bicentennial for Paraguay. There have been celebrations and programs and parades all over the country. The national colors are red, white and blue so all the decorations look very familiar.
We hope everyone has had a good week! We have! We love and miss you all! Mark and Sandy
Dear Family and Friends, May 8, 2011
This week was change week so we welcomed new missionaries and said goodbye to others who were finishing their missions. Tuesday we welcomed Elders Bulkley from Montana, Garzon from Colombia,Kartchner from Arizona and Nielsen from California. They were all excited to get here and get to work. We picked them up at the airport and went to lunch and then the temple grounds to have our testimony meeting. We then went back to the mission office for orientation and interviews with president. After a quick dinner they went out to teach with the office elders.
Wednesday the new missionaries met their trainers and then they were off to their areas to work. We then took the 10 leaving missionaries out to lunch and then to the temple for a session. Afterwards we came to the mission home for dessert and a testimony meeting. Thursday we went to the airport two times to send off two groups of missionaries. The second group who were all North Americans met with disappointment as their flights were not coordinated well so they had to stay an extra day before they could fly home. They were good sports and the travel coordinator felt horrible for the problem with their flights. They all made it home but a day late.
Thursday was also Mark’s birthday. There just wasn’t time to celebrate with all the airport runs but he received some nice phone calls and emails. He had a meeting in the evening and the office elders put balloons and a sign in his car and gave him a huge can of Planters peanuts.
Saturday we went to Coronel Oviedo for a District conference Saturday and Sunday. We always enjoy seeing the missionaries at conferences and also the members that we are getting to know better and better. One of my friends is a young woman named Cielo who always comes and finds me and gives me a hug. She lost her mother 6 years ago and lives with her father and sister.
Before conference we held a meeting for new members and investigators that gave Mark a chance to get to know some of them a bit. There were a few great families in the group along with some young people. It is always nice to see families join the church. We need more good strong families who can help strengthen the branches and wards here.
Sunday we returned home and then I had a nice day speaking to all of our children and spouses and my Mom. We are grateful for the good mothers that our daughters and daughters in law are as they are raising their children with their husbands. We are grateful for our own mothers and the things we have learned from them throughout our lives. The missionaries were all happy they got to make their Mother’s Day phone calls. We know there were a lot of happy mothers as they were able to speak to their missionaries. Well, we hope you are all well and happy! Love, Mark and Sandy
